One of the top concerns when it comes to the harms of social media and political polarization in the United States is the fear of echo chambers or people operating in media bubbles. If people are only hearing opinions they already agree with or seeing stories that align with their worldview, they may become more entrenched in their beliefs, whether or not their beliefs reflect the real world. They may also become easier to manipulate and more extreme.
Interestingly, research largely shows the vast majority of people don’t inhabit perfectly sealed-off echo chambers. It’s been found that only about 4 percent of people operate in online echo chambers, and <a data-offer-url="https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/10/most-people-on-twitter-dont-live-in-political-echo-chambers-but-mostly-because-they-dont-care-enough-to-bother-building-one/" class="external-link"
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